Monthly Archives: March 2017

I once met a man wearing a back and neck brace. Circumstances were such that during our conversation I asked him about his injury. He told me he’d fallen on the stairs. He’d been carrying a small load up the stairs and slipped as he was setting it down. Usually, we think of stair accidents as falling while going down, but I’ve said it many times before – at home, at work, in the yard, while traveling, or even while climbing the stairs, always take the extra time to…

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned in my tidbit that I’d gone to a funeral. That funeral was for my band teacher, who taught me in junior high and in high school. I remember one time when he was telling us that it wasn’t just enough to practice our music, but that we had to practice it right. It may have been someone in the trumpet section that meshed this concept with the “practice makes perfect” philosophy and said that if you practice something wrong, then you learn it perfectly wrong. Forty years later, and I still remember that.

Here’s the safety tie-in. I think that the safety mindset is not something you can turn on and off. Most of us don’t practice (as in rehearse) safety just to get it right. But we do practice (as in live) safety in most of our daily activities. In that way of thinking, the more we practice doing things in a safe way, and the more we strive for understanding and doing things (practicing) safely, then we will indeed …

Years ago I watched a safety video on proper lifting techniques. The video started with a man being prepped for back surgery. His back had gone out while picking up a screw driver. The video emphasized that his back wasn’t in good shape, and it was coincidental that it went out while he was doing such an easy task. While picking up one heavy box won’t necessarily “break your back,” repeatedly using improper lifting techniques will, over time, take a toll. On the other hand, I remember one time in particular when I needed to pick up box (I think it weighed about 25lbs) and I “looked ahead and lifted with my legs.” As I brought the box up, I actually felt a little “energized.” I can’t think of any other way to say it. It honestly felt good to …

Over the weekend, I was on the freeway for two and a half hours in the morning, attended a funeral, and then returned home in the afternoon. While driving home, I started feeling tired. I thought I wasn’t that tired, that I only had half an hour until I got home, and I really thought I could make it. But I was driving alone. I finally decided to stop and stretch my legs. It just so happened that the exit that I chose had a truck stop. That allowed me a chance to walk around for a few minutes, grab a snack and get back on the road. After stopping, I was refreshed, more alert, and I was able to complete the last few minutes without being concerned. It only took me about fifteen minutes, and $1.10 for the snack, but that’s a small price to pay to…